


Swipe right

by ofstormsandwolves



Category: Broadchurch, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Related, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 13:56:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10388187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/ofstormsandwolves
Summary: Spoilers for series 3 episode 4 (of sorts). Rose is amused by Alec's dating attempt, and reveals that she knows a little more about that than he expected.





	

“Why do you have Tinder on your phone?”

Alec Hardy’s head swivelled round at Rose’s amused voice, and reached across to pull his mobile from her grasp.

“It was Daisy’s idea,” he insisted, already pocketing the phone and returning his attention to the road. “Said I should get back into dating.”

Rose smirked at that. “And she thought Tinder was the best way for you to do that?”

Alec floundered at the question, shrugging, and instead tightened his grip on the steering wheel of his car. Rain continued to lash against the window, the car’s windscreen wipers hardly able to keep up.

“The weather’s bloody awful,” Alec muttered, shifting a little in his seat. Rose remained grinning at him. He looked back round to her, her hair plastered to her head with rain and her coat soaked through. “Will you stop grinning?”

“Just can’t believe Daisy talked you into Tinder,” she told him, giggling. 

Alec scowled. “She didn’t exactly talk me into it. Didn’t even tell me what she was doing until she’d set it all up on my phone.”

Rose burst out laughing then, and Alec only scowled further.

“Does Ellie know?”

“No,” Alec responded quickly. “And don’t you dare tell her.”

Rose laughed even harder at that. “Oh, Ellie’s gonna love this! Alec Hardy on Tinder!”

“Rose! You can’t tell her!”

She fished her own phone out of her pocket. “I’m gonna text her!”

“Oi!” Alec scowled again. “Don’t you dare!” He glanced over at her again. “I should’ve left you to walk home in the rain.”

“Nah,” Rose beamed at him then, “you’re too much of a gentleman.”

Hardy sighed, indicating to turn right towards Rose’s flat. “You’re bloody lucky I was driving past your shop. You’d have been soaked by the time you got home.”

“Yeah,” Rose mused. “But at least I could get changed when I get in.”

“Aye,” Alec sighed, “if you didn’t pass out from the cold.”

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes then.

“Still can’t believe you’re on Tinder.”

“It wasn’t my idea,” Hardy grumbled. “Daisy insisted. The bloody thing doesn’t even make sense. You spend five seconds looking at someone’s picture before deciding if you want to date them or not! How can you base a relationship on that?”

Rose shrugged. “Love at first sight? I dunno. But let’s be honest, most people date people they’re physically attracted to. Tinder’s just an easier way to do that. Besides, both of you have to swipe right for it to be a match.”

Hardy’s eyes narrowed at that. “You know a lot about it.”

She shrugged again, fiddling with her own phone. “My mate Shareen recommended it. She said that it might be my only chance at finding someone interesting in somewhere as quiet as Broadchurch.”

Alec snorted. “Broadchurch? Quiet? Doesn’t your friend watch the news?”

“Yeah, well, practically anything’s quiet when you grew up in south London,” she pointed out with a small smirk.

Alec made a small noise at that, and turned another corner. A few minutes later, they were pulling up outside Rose’s flat.

“Thanks for the lift,” Rose grinned as she took her seatbelt off. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Alec gave a tight smile. “Yeah.”

He watched to make sure she got safely inside her flat, and once her front door swung shut behind her, Alec pulled away from the curb. It was another ten minutes or so before he reached his own house, and when he pulled up he could see the light in Daisy’s bedroom was on. He heaved out a sigh, took a breath, and made a dash from the car to his house, barely pausing to lock the car. 

By the time he was inside his house, though, he was still rather thoroughly soaked. Hardy groaned, and tugged off his sodden suit jacket before retrieving his phone from his pocket and falling onto the sofa.

“Dad?” Daisy called from her bedroom.

“Yeah,” Alec called back, “sorry I was a bit late, love.”

He heard nothing more from Daisy then, and he sighed. He unlocked his phone and his thumb hovered over the Tinder app on his phone. It really was a stupid idea. Even Rose had laughed at him having Tinder. He should just delete it, and forget the whole thing had ever happened. Like Rose said, Ellie would have a field day if she found out.  
But then, Rose had said she had used Tinder...

Without really knowing what he was doing, Hardy had already opened the app, and he swiped his way through several women without fully processing their photos. Swipe right. Swipe right. Swipe left. Swipe right. Swipe left.

Suddenly, there it was. He blinked at the photo, swallowing and looking around the room to make sure that Daisy was still in her room. Alec looked back down at his phone, at the smiling photo of Rose staring back at him. He took a breath.

Swipe right.


End file.
